Fullerton, Calif.  - The OUAZ men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year by beating regular season champion and No. 2 nationally ranked Arizona Christian, 76-66. The Spirit will face the winner of the second semifinal game between Hope International and The Master's for the tournament title at 6 pm (PST. The winner will receive an automatic berth into the NAIA Men's Basketball Opening Round which begins on March 7th.

Though ACU was without all-conference standouts Paul Hayden and Bryce Davis, OUAZ sophomore guard Alex Villi looked like an all-GSAC pick in the first half by out scoring ACU 26-25. His 26 points came on 8-of-11 three's, most of which he nailed during the final nine minutes, and giving the Spirit an 19-point halftime edge (44-25).

As expected, ACU made it interesting by cutting the lead to 10 (51-41) with 13 minutes to play, and then to six (57-51), but the Spirit used a 7-0 run over the next six minutes to build the lead back to 13 (66-53). From there it was fouls, free throws and OUAZ doing just enough to beat ACU for the first time in school history. The win improves OUAZ's to 20-9 overall, marking just the second time in school history that the Spirit have reached the 20 win plateau.

Villi finished the as the games top scorer with 28 points, while all-conference pick Keshawn Bruner added 17 and Devin Collins posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Angelo Johnson led the Firestorm in scoring with 18 points.

Vs. Hope & The Master's
The Spirit are a combined 2-2 versus Hope and The Master's this season. Hope won both games versus OUAZ (81-74 in Surprise and 91-68 in Fullerton), and OUAZ won both games against The Master's (103-94 OT in Santa Clarita and 91-63 in Surprise).

Points Of Interest
With the win tonight, the Spirit stay undefeated in conference postseason tournament action (5-0)…Two-time all-conference selection Josiah De'laCerda now leads the GSAC in three-point FG percentage (50%)…The back-to-back 11 rebound performances by Collins against ACU and Westmont marks the 14th time he has grabbed more than 10 in a game this season. He has seven double-doubles this season…For the last six games, Bruner is averaging 18 points while hitting 55% from the floor and 84% (26-31) from the line.